Surgical “robot” a foundation for leadership role in men’s health

With the assistance of Canada’s Great One (Wayne Gretzky), the leading-edge da Vinci Surgical System (known as “the robot”) was unveiled at Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH) Wednesday, October 19. Wayne took his turn at the controls to see how well he could manage this state-of-the art technology to treat prostate cancer.

TEGH will be the first community hospital in Canada to obtain the “most advanced robotic system in urological care, which will have an enormous impact on men’s health in this community,” stated Rob Devitt, TEGH President & CEO.

Robot-assisted surgery is now the preferred treatment for removal of prostate following early diagnosis of prostate cancer. “The robot” will allow TEGH surgeons to take minimally invasive surgery to the next step using very small incisions and exceptional precision, resulting in minimal blood loss and less pain along with improved outcomes and faster recoveries.

Making the announcement even more exciting is the fact that the robot will be shared with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, demonstrating the kind of teamwork that is needed today to adopt such cutting-edge technologies. Although housed at TEGH, surgeons from both hospitals will use the robot to perform surgeries and to train the next generation of surgeons.

Rob Devitt thanked Dr. Rajiv Singal for his leadership, noting he “has been absolutely unwavering in his passion to bring his vision for an advanced surgical urology program at TEGH to reality.”

To date, $4 of the $5 million needed for the acquisition of the da Vinci system has been raised and the announcement was only possible due to the support of the donors and the partnership with Sunnybrook Hospital.